AT PRESENT, STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY DIRECTOR HAS BIG PLANS FOR FUTURE

CONSTANCE NEYER ;Courant Staff WriterTHE HARTFORD COURANT

David M. Kahn, who transformed the sleepy Brooklyn, N.Y., Historical Society into a busy community showcase, is taking steps to do the same at the staid Connecticut Historical Society.

Kahn, who became executive director of the Connecticut society in November, eliminated 13 positions last month that displaced six people -- including curator Betsy Fox and public information spokeswoman Diana McCain.

Fox had no comment Thursday on leaving. McCain said, "I received a nice severance package and, for me personally, this is a great opportunity to stay home and write and work on projects I've always wanted to."

In the reorganization, Kahn said, he created 14 jobs that will be filled partly by consultants. He plans major fund-raising, electronic and program improvements for the society, which is on Elizabeth Street in Hartford, near the Hartford College for Women.

"I think that our reorganization is going to result in a stronger historical society that will be of greater benefit to the people of Hartford," Kahn said Thursday. "We're committed to new growth and vitality that will be a big benefit to Hartford."

Kahn said he also is looking at ways to renovate the building to add exhibition space.

"By the end of 1998, we might have an entire new exhibition gallery to install family-oriented, interactive exhibits," he said.

"Essentially we have been charting a new course for the organization and making this a stronger and more active participant in the cultural life of Hartford," Kahn said.

"Families are a major priority of the historical society," he said. "There will be things to touch and all sorts of hands-on activities. It will be warm and welcoming; it won't be 'stay away' or quiet."

"We are doing a repositioning that has taken place in other places, such as St. Paul, Minn., and Baltimore," he said.

Kahn said many museums throughout the country are trying to attract visitors with electronic equipment and more relevant exhibits that lend themselves to community history, rather than highlighting just the powerful and prominent, such as presidents.

He is proposing an exhibit of the "Amistad" to open at the end of the year, around the time of Steven Spielberg's movie. Kahn said he plans interactive computer stations and a theater with a sound and light show. Sets of the story will be recreated by a consultant to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

"Whether crafts, workshops, you name it," Kahn said, "we'll develop it so it will be an appealing offering for families."

He also wants the historical society to attract school children.

"In the past six months, I must have seen only 10 busloads of schoolchildren at the historical society," he said. "I want to see 10 busloads of schoolchildren a week at the historical society in the future."

He also wants to gather family pictures from across the state that will be put on the Internet for all to see.

Another proposal is to take some of the exhibits -- such as the ones on Connecticut furniture and costumes -- and put them on the road.

Kahn said the historical society has the largest collection in the United States of tavern signs. He suggests they take the 60 signs on the road -- and even the Japanese will be interested. Kahn visits Japan often.

The reorganization was important to change the direction of the society, Kahn said.

"I think the staff would have been able to maintain the status quo," he said, but he wanted more. "We had a low profile in Hartford, but we wanted to develop a new image for the historicial society and Hartford."